Did you ever dream that you were a dog agility super champ except then it switched and you were at some germy, grungy, derelict seaside park in the dark and the carnies were actually drug addled zombies that were shambling after you with hammers and their big teeth? And then as you're trying to escape your way out from under their oily, horrible claws by clambering up a rat infested palm tree, you're all, this is about dog agility like, how?

19 July 2010

Team Small Dog visits Agility on the Greens, which are not just any greens but The Greens.

We all put on our classy pants yesterday and drove down to Carmel Valley for the Agility on the Greens. It's not just called USDAA Trial in Carmel Valley. We call it Agility on the Greens.

They use the REALLY NICE porta potties there with little handwashing stations. They were gender specific. Nestled amongst the oaks.

There was wine.

I think possibly a lot of wine.

There were scenic vistas with golfers in little sweaters. I am not kidding. The golfers in the background of this photo had on little sweater vests. I wore a clean shirt.

There were also ducks in a duck pond. You will notice the leashes in the photo. Because I am pretty sure these are prop ducks and not swimstick chasing attack ducks of mayhem fiesta. Like, there were no signs that said "No Dogs In Pond" but the vibe was distinctly one of it would be bad manners to let dogs swim in scenic pond so we didn't.

Gustavo ran a little more unfocused and frantic than the last dog show. There was a weave pole explosion and crazy running resulting in me finally yelling one those very sheep herdy "LAY DOWNS" at him to just stop the madness. It was prefaced with one of his signature quick dives UNDER the table, before jumping on top of it. So no Standard Q. A crazy jumpers moment of just keep running somewhere else instead of one last turn. A Gambler's opening best described as many unplanned points with a screamy, left behind handler arm flailing frantically to will him into the gamble from some backasswards wrong position. He actually had pretty good runs, each one had a quirky moment though.

He got his first SuperQ. He runs against Ottepop now, who has been trying to get that blasted final SuperQ of the ADCh for years. YEARS. I almost scratched her out of Snookers, she looked pretty gimpy in Jumpers but I ran her for the good of the small dogs.

Perhaps you don't follow the intricacies of SuperQ's. Good bye NOW my non dog agility friends. Who are still left. 5 dogs in a class equals one SuperQ. 3 SuperQs equals ADCh qualification. 8 dogs equals 2 SuperQs meaning now 2 dogs can have one. Got it? For some of us Snooker challenged, hard to come by. For small entry in the 12" dog class, we love the days when we have enough dogs in the division for 2 or more SuperQ's. Running 2 dogs in a class of 8 dogs, mean I have 25% share in the 15% who get those 2 SuperQ's. Got it now?

But Otterpop couldn't even try for it. I ran her on a one point less run (you know, the old 6-7-6 opening instead of all 7's) so she didn't have to work so hard. Her poor little leg. To finish her ADCh, this is the only class she needs to run at 12" now since she got her last Masters Gambler's Q. She has stacks of plain, unglamorous Snookers Q's.

Can I tell you about Otterpop's last Gambler's Q for her ADCh? That was my favorite part of yesterday . She was running great, speedy at the beginning of the day. Our run went exactly according to plan, and we were both right where I thought we should be to zoom right through the gamble. She looked sound as can be, she was speeding along, but when she headed into that gamble, there was a hesitation. She stopped, and turned around to look at me instead of heading out and over the a-frame. NOT a helpful thing. I thought she was done for. Another failed Gambler's.

She looked at me. I looked at her. You don't want your dog stopping and staring at you lovingly when that buzzer has blown and the clock is running. We were in a pickle.

So I just told her, nice and loud, "You can DO IT!" And she turned around, climbed up that mountain of an a-frame, and down she went and out to finish the gamble. Just like that.

Thanks Otterpop!

I will confess I did a bonehead off course on her otherwise speedy and lovely Standard run. And that she came up limpy in the middle of her Jumpers. Poor Otterpop.

At the end of the day, we packed up the trailers. This is what it looks like at the very, very end of dog agility. All the stuff, packed away and hauled out til next time. Leaving the manicured golfing fields open for one Team Small Dog frisbee game before we packed up our car and drove home.

4 comments:

It's interesting that, among all that beautiful landscaping, we both thought that the portapotties were worth a blog photo.

I like the Otterpop story. I'm sure that more dogs would get the gamble if only everyone stopped to explain it to them in plain English like that.

I think in Gustavo's jumpers run, he smelled a tiny smell in the grass near the ring rope of the other ring. Tika used to smell things like that sometimes. But it's hard to sniff around the fields before a run and find what those sensitive artistic agility-dog noses might find. The rest of G's run still looked amazing.

I practice that with Otterpop. I have tried to program into her Gamblers database every single mishap that can happen so I can still just say stuff like that, and have go on to get the gamble. Working.

That was a crushing moment in the G-man's jumpers run. It was so nice and fast and the course so hard! There was also a not being used, folded up tunnel right outside the ring in the direction he was heading...hmmm.

Laura Hartwick, Captain

Many people around Santa Cruz know Laura as the lady with all those little black dogs. Many people know her as a horse trainer. Many people know her as the artist with the small brushes. Many people know her as that hoity graphic designer.
None of them would be wrong.
All the dogs of Team Small Dog, righteously awesome.
Laura Hartwick is usually a nice person. Except when she isn't. Be nice, don't bite, and run faster.